WootBot

Did you know there's a place in Florida where you can see all kinds of exotic animals roaming around? And we don't mean Dennis Rodman's Miami Beach estate, though he probably does keep snakes or something. We're talking about Lion Country safari, America's foremost drive-through zoo! It's kind of a weird joint.

Home, home in the swamp /
Where the rhinos and antelope romp /
You can watch lions play /
From your old Chevrolet /
Keep your windows rolled up, or get chomped

Quality Posts

blackdragon16

Man, I love this place. I grew up not that far from there in Jupiter Farms, and as a kid it was always a great place to go for school field trips and even a birthday party or two. Hell I went to summer camp there for a few years. This was all before the fences in the lion part of the drive, I hadn't realized that they had added those, sucks. They used to have elephants as well but they had to get rid of them for some reason or another about eight or ten years ago. Joke all you want about this place, but some of my favorite childhood memories are from times spent with friends and family visiting this amazing park.

chipg

Last time I went was July 27, 1971. The reason I can pinpoint it is that it was the day after the Apollo 15 launch which we also went to see. The prospect of watching lions from the comfort of our air-conditioned car sounded really cool. But it turned out that the lions slept all afternoon about 50 yards from the road, in the shade, like any sane animal would do in the Florida humidity. So we saw some furry lumps off in the distance. The most fun was the giraffes that assaulted the car with their tongues, licking the salt spray off the windows.

That and the 50 million love bugs we killed on the way there. It was a particularly prolific summer for them.

ActorTom

What???!!?? You came to Florida and didn't stop by for a visist> : { That does it, you're off my Christmas Card list. Well, you'd be off the list if I actually still sent Christmas cards. I quit a few years ago when I found out that Christmas ( and birthdays in general) were just holidays invented by Hallmark to sell greeting cards.

It was cool when I was a kid, and the lions came right up to your car, and the elephants stood in the middle of the road blocking the way for half an hour at a time.

I'm surprised this attraction has survived the arrival of McRodent World in Orlando. Now that the McRodent has his Animal Kingdom attraction, LCS's days may be numbered.

olperfesser

I remember going there many years ago. It's one of those places you have to visit if you live in Florida. (There used to be one in New Jersey, near Great Adventure, as well - probably got too cold for African wildlife)
I remember there was this baboon exhibit where they wouldn't allow cars with vinyl roofs because the baboons liked to eat the glue that held the material to the metal.

As to rodentland taking the business away, not yet. Much more real livestock in Lion Kingdom for now. Time to see the lions is the early morning in spring or late fall.

bsmith1

lipophilia

OK - you made me look it up...
Why do Salt and Vinegar chips have "artificial flavor" when they only have salt and vinegar added?
The ingredients list includes "Salt and Vinegar Seasoning" - which includes:
- maltodextrin (a corn sugar)
- salt (mmmmmmm ... salt.....)
- malic acid (the stuff that makes sour candy tart)
- vinegar (last ingredient - smallest component)
It makes sense to add the vinegar flavor to something dry (the maltodextrin) so that you don't make the crispy chips all soggy when you add it. Vinegar even makes french fries (or chips if you're in the UK or at a fish & chips place) soggy. However, even though the maltodextrin is a great carrier, it probably can't handle enough vinegar to get to the right flavor, so they have to add something that tastes similar. The malic acid makes the seasoning more 'puckery' - without adding liquid - and makes you think that there's more vinegar than there actually is.
So, thanks, Woot!, for making me go out and find out why the salt and vinegar chips have that weird flavor that isn't quite vinegar.

maxrfb

For those that live a little to the north of Florida, there is a similar place called the African Lion Safari in Ontario, Canada. Great fun!

And in between, in Eastern Ohio, there is The Wilds that is big on healing, conservation, animal husbandry and the like. There's drive through safari's a campground and all kinds of activities.
Plus, they have something called the "Mid-sized carnivore conservation center" What could possibly be more exciting than that.

loatu

OK, so this is cool and all. As are the other palces mentioned above, but dude, This Place totally one-ups all of them, because at the Virginia Safari Park, not only do you drive through all the animals, you get to feed them from the safety of your car. No rules about keeping windows down and all that.

Some examples of people feeding llamas and camels and zebras poking their heads in your front window, are enough to convince you that you need to go visit Virginia.

Having gone to this wondrous land of enchantment, I now have wonderful visions of a llama sneezing in my dad's face. And that is the kind of memory you can enjoy forever!

True, the Virginia Safari Park doesn't have lions, but as you so succinctly put it, lions at zoos are generally lazy and useless, and you'll get much better views simply by watching Lion King again.

EDIT: Llamas are cunning animals. They have learned that they only get food from cars that stop, and that cars only stay on the road of the park, so they have developed the wonderful tactic of blocking the road until you stop moving and THEN walking up to your window on the side of the car. Also, Bactrian camels know better than to try to eat food out of the bucket while it's in your hand. Simple solution: "bite the bucket, and then those Jatravartid humans will let go and I'll get to eat the whole thing!"

ActorTom

lipophilia wrote:OK - you made me look it up...
Why do Salt and Vinegar chips have "artificial flavor" when they only have salt and vinegar added?
The ingredients list includes "Salt and Vinegar Seasoning" - which includes:
- maltodextrin (a corn sugar)
- salt (mmmmmmm ... salt.....)
- malic acid (the stuff that makes sour candy tart)
- vinegar (last ingredient - smallest component)
It makes sense to add the vinegar flavor to something dry (the maltodextrin) so that you don't make the crispy chips all soggy when you add it. Vinegar even makes french fries (or chips if you're in the UK or at a fish & chips place) soggy. However, even though the maltodextrin is a great carrier, it probably can't handle enough vinegar to get to the right flavor, so they have to add something that tastes similar. The malic acid makes the seasoning more 'puckery' - without adding liquid - and makes you think that there's more vinegar than there actually is.
So, thanks, Woot!, for making me go out and find out why the salt and vinegar chips have that weird flavor that isn't quite vinegar.

I hope you gave him a quality post for this. Very interesting and informative.

cheroke55

For those that live a little to the north of Florida, there is a similar place called the African Lion Safari in Ontario, Canada. Great fun!

The one in Ontario looks better than the one on Florida. In California we have several. But there's a small park called The living desert down the road from me near Palm Springs
It's pretty cool, and the prices are right. Here's some pics

cheroke55

loatu wrote:OK, so this is cool and all. As are the other palces mentioned above, but dude, This Place totally one-ups all of them, because at the Virginia Safari Park, not only do you drive through all the animals, you get to feed them from the safety of your car. No rules about keeping windows down and all that.

Some examples of people feeding llamas and camels and zebras poking their heads in your front window, are enough to convince you that you need to go visit Virginia.

Having gone to this wondrous land of enchantment, I now have wonderful visions of a llama sneezing in my dad's face. And that is the kind of memory you can enjoy forever!

True, the Virginia Safari Park doesn't have lions, but as you so succinctly put it, lions at zoos are generally lazy and useless, and you'll get much better views simply by watching Lion King again.

EDIT: Llamas are cunning animals. They have learned that they only get food from cars that stop, and that cars only stay on the road of the park, so they have developed the wonderful tactic of blocking the road until you stop moving and THEN walking up to your window on the side of the car. Also, Bactrian camels know better than to try to eat food out of the bucket while it's in your hand. Simple solution: "bite the bucket, and then those Jatravartid humans will let go and I'll get to eat the whole thing!"

That wasn't sneezing. It spit in your dads face. It's a llama's defense. They chew their cud and mixed with it's saliva, they wait until you look them in the eye and spit. It burns and temporarily blinds you.

garzman80

Wow! I feel special now because you mentioned Grand Rapids MI and I live here, so you basically were talking about me. We don't have a safari though, but we do have a butterfly exhibit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8NdsgYUJK4

TheBopster

I visited there in the early '80s when I lived close by, and it was a very good experience! Living in northern Colorado, it's too far for a day trip, so we go to Keenesburg now: http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/home.html

craigthom

I visited there twelve years ago. There was no fence in the lion habitat.

I drove past the lions hanging out in their concrete shelter, as you saw them. As I rounded the turn the lions got up and started walking toward the entrance.

And the gates closed.

I was about halfway down the back of the U when a guy in a truck pulled up and told me to roll up the windows and hold on for a while.

It seems they didn't trust those cattle grates to keep the lions in their habitat. The truck had a cow-catcher-looking-thing on the front, and the guy herded them away from the entrance gate and back toward the concrete shelter.

Then they opened the gates and let me leave.

It was the only exciting part of the whole trip, except when the ostrich stuck his head in the car.

li200

olperfesser wrote:I remember going there many years ago. It's one of those places you have to visit if you live in Florida. (There used to be one in New Jersey, near Great Adventure, as well - probably got too cold for African wildlife)
I remember there was this baboon exhibit where they wouldn't allow cars with vinyl roofs because the baboons liked to eat the glue that held the material to the metal.

The one in NJ is still there - it's called Wild Safari, and it's owned by Six Flags - you can get combo tickets when you go to Great Adventure - they're next to each other.

It's only open in the summer when the animals won't freeze their assets off in the NJ climate.
But maybe they'll learn to speak with a Joysey accent.

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